176 Front Street - The home of James McDonald and Catherine Randall

picture of a white house on 176 Front Street, Oakville. The owners are James McDonald and Catherine Randall.

This house sits on Lots 1 and 2, Block 78, Plan 1. In 1834 both lots were sold by William Chisholm to James McPherson and James McDonald. In 1837, McPherson “and wife” sold their share of the property to McDonald for £100. In 1880, McDonald’s widow, Catherine, inherited both lots. Their daughter, Catherine, also Catherine, inherited the property and her estate sold it in 1939 to Ella Lillian Gibbons. She owned it for two years before it was sold again. By the time the current owners purchased it a few years ago, it was in very poor condition. Much of it had to be knocked down before it fell down. The owners have done an excellent job of preserving as much of it as possible. The original property included lawns and trees to the south but as the land eroded into the Lake, those disappeared.

James McDonald was born in 1811 in Aberlour, Banffshire, Scotland, a son of James McDonald and Margaret McKerron. He arrived in Oakville in 1830 where his first work was as a carpenter and builder on pier construction in the harbour. In 1835 he married Catherine Randall who was born in Liverpool, Nova Scotia. They had eight children: Elizabeth (1837-1918); Margaret (1840-1843); James Jr (1841-1918); Mary-Ann Margaret (1846-); Isabella (1848-1887); Peter (1851-1935); Catherine (1854-1934) and Ann Jane (1857-1929).

James died on 2 February 1880 at the age of 69. Catherine followed in 1883 at the age of 65. They are both buried at Oakville Cemetery. They each have their own headstone. His includes their daughter, Margaret, who died on 10 October 1843. Behind her headstone are two small stones labelled Kate and Isabella. At some point a second, newer stone was put up in front of the two original stones. It lists James and Catherine and also their daughters Isabella, Catherine and Margaret “infant 1840-1843”.

The McDonalds and their house are included in David and Suzanne Peacocks’ excellent book “Old Oakville”. James deserves much of the credit for building Oakville’s first Presbyterian Church in 1850, now 295, 297 and 301 William Street. He also worked on the market building, also known as Town Hall on Navy Street on the site of the Lawn Bowling Club.

James Junior carried on his father’s work as the main builder of the current Knox Presbyterian Church on Lakeshore Road. We’ve previously written about his house on Reynolds Street.